The two-story, Class D complex was built in 1963 and is situated on 6.7 acres on the south side of Whitaker, west of Elvis Presley Boulevard in the Oak Acres subdivision. The Shelby County Register of Deeds, which uses the address 1087 Whitaker for the parcel, appraised it in 2011 at $900,000. WI Memphis LLC received the property via quitclaim from Pope’s Select Properties LLC in November 2010.

Robert Gibbs of Gibbs Planning Group will discuss recent trends in urban retail principles and practices that support sustainable thriving communities. Among his talking points, Gibbs will suggest ways that new trends in urban retail could be successfully applied to three Memphis neighborhoods: South Memphis, Binghampton and the Madison Avenue corridor.

The free event begins with a networking reception at 5:30 p.m. in the Montesi Room, followed by the program at 6 p.m. in Spain Auditorium. For more information, visit memphis.uli.org, or contact ULI Memphis at 568-4423, or by email at memphis@uli.org.

– Sarah Baker

Memphis Med Professionals Receive Statewide Awards

Two Memphis medical professionals and one organization will be honored Saturday, April 14, at the Tennessee Medical Association annual awards in Nashville.

Dr. Eugene Spiotta Sr., who will receive the Outstanding Physician Award, has practiced medicine in Memphis for more than 60 years. He previously served as clinical associate and clinical professor of medicine at the University of Tennessee Health Science Center, where he still teaches. Spiotta, a graduate of Christian Brothers High School and the UTHSC’s College of Medicine, also served as director of education at the former St. Joseph Hospital, where he established the UTHSC Family Practice Residency Program, which he later transferred to Saint Francis Hospital.

Dr. James Bailey Jr., who will receive the TMA Distinguished Service Award, served as a leader in the incorporation of the Just Health Foundation, now known as the Healthy Memphis Common Table. Bailey, professor of medicine in the Division of General Internal Medicine and director of the Healthy Memphis Data Center at the UTHSC, helped lead efforts to provide impartial public reporting of health and health care quality information that have led to ongoing provider-level community health care performance reports.

The South Memphis Revitalization Project will receive the 2012 TMA Community Service Award. Fostered through the University of Memphis’ Graduate Program in City and Regional Planning and the Department of Anthropology, the project focuses on the underserved Vance Avenue neighborhood, assisting with needs such as crime, urban renewal and revitalization and combating the designation of the neighborhood as a food desert.

– Aisling Maki

US Gov’t to Propose Mortgage Lending Rules

The federal government proposed new rules on Tuesday that will give homeowners more ways to avoid foreclosure and get an accurate accounting of their monthly mortgage payments.

Congress mandated changes in the rules covering the mortgage servicing industry in the wake of the 2008 financial crisis.

The mortgage servicers would also be required to make “good-faith efforts” to contact borrowers at risk of foreclosure and give them options to avoid losing their homes. There are also stipulations for improving record-keeping and providing foreclosure counseling to those who need it.

The agency said it will formally propose the rules this summer and finalize them by January 2013.

Nearly 8 million Americans have faced foreclosure since the housing bubble burst in late 2006. Many homeowners have said companies that process mortgages failed to verify information on foreclosure documents.

The worst practices, known collectively as “robo-signing,” included employees signing documents they hadn’t read or using fake signatures to approve foreclosures.

In February, the nation’s five largest mortgage lenders agreed to overhaul their mortgage servicing practices and pay $25 billion to U.S. states to help those who lost their homes or face foreclosure.

– The Associated Press

Keller Williams to Sponsor Orange Mound Benefit

Keller Williams Realty is sponsoring a plant sale Saturday, April 14, where proceeds will go toward a RED Day Project benefiting the Orange Mound community.

Keller Williams’ RED Day stands for Renew, Energize and Donate and is open to all Memphis-area Realtors, not just those with Keller Williams.

“It’s a national in-service day that Keller Williams is doing – we shut down our offices in honor of our chairman, Mo Anderson, and we do different projects,” said Jo Shaner of the Keller Williams’ Lipsey/Shaner Team LLC. “The plant sale is basically for seed money to do those projects.”

This year, Keller Williams’ RED Day is slated for Thursday, May 10, and will consist of a food drive, clothing drive, and an installation of plants throughout the Orange Mound community. There will also be a mini-carnival for children with games and prizes.

The event will be from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. in the parking lot of Memphis Association of Realtors, 6393 Poplar Ave.